


I wish I'd done everything on earth with you

by westallenfluff



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2018-12-04 05:53:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11548848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westallenfluff/pseuds/westallenfluff
Summary: Iris is forced to sign up to be a camp counselor for the summer with her bff Linda and what she thought was going to be a summer with a bunch of pesky little kids turns into a summer of romance.





	1. Off to Camp We Go

Why was Linda so persuasive sometimes?

 A couple of months ago, Linda forced Iris to sign up to be a camp counselor for a sleep away camp for kids. Linda volunteers every single summer and every single summer she comes back on an absolute high. She loves being around kids and being in the outdoors, so camp is basically heaven on earth for her.

Iris was hesitant at first, a whole week trapped in the middle of the woods with crazy screaming kids sounded terrifying, but Linda convinced her to go. At the end of the summer, the two best friends are going to be split up to go to their separate colleges and they needed to spend as much quality time together as possible. So Iris signed up. She knew that anything with Linda was always fun, so she went for it.

Iris was actually going to be gone for one week and three days. The counselors had to show up to the camp before the kids did so that they could set up everything and get to know one another. Iris was most excited to see people that were her own age though. She loved making new friends and Linda always talked so highly about all of them.

Iris was finishing packing up her duffle bag when her dad came in, leaning against her door. “Hey baby girl. You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She said zipping up her bag.

“It’s nice that you get to have one last hurrah before you go off to college.”

“Yeah, but don’t have too much fun without me.” She warned jokingly.

“Of course not.” He joked back. “But be safe out there.”

“You know I will.” She said. She looked down at her phone and saw the message that Linda was outside. She grabbed her bag and gave her dad a huge hug and a kiss. “Well I got to go. Tell mom and Wally that I’ll miss them and I’ll call them as soon as I can.”

“Ok baby, love you.”

“Love you too.” She dashed out of her house and plopped down into the passenger seat of Linda’s car.

“Hey girl. You ready for a summer of fun?” Linda shouted.

“I guess.” Iris laughed.

“This is going to be the best summer of your life and by the end of camp you’re going to be thanking me for bringing you…..hell, by the end of tomorrow you will be thanking me.”

“Whatever.” Iris said.

They arrived at the parking lot of the Central City High School and saw that they were the only counselors there. The only other person there was a _really_ handsome man standing in front of a huge yellow school bus. He looked like a rugged lumberjack that deserved to be on the cover of some vogue magazine.

They were grabbing some of Linda’s things from her trunk when Iris whispered, biting on her bottom lip “Who is that?”

“That’s Jerry, he owns the camp. Very hot, but very gay.” Linda laughed.

“Darn.” Iris moped, but laughed all the same.

“His husband Lucas runs it with him. He should be at the camp site right now.”

“Is he insanely hot too?”

“Of course.” Linda laughed.

The two made their way over to the bus and Jerry greeted Linda with a hug. “Hey girlie girl, long time no see. How’s life treating you?” Jerry said.

“Good now that High School is finally over.” Linda laughed.

“I hear that.” He looked over at Iris and went in for a hug. Usually Iris would jump if some stranger gave her a random hug, but there was something about Jerry that made him very comforting and warm. “Sorry I’m big on hugs.” He said pulling away. “You must be Iris. We are very excited to have you here at Camp Mountain Peak this summer.”

“Well I’m glad to be here.” Iris said excitedly.

“So is there any new counselors coming or just the same crew?” Linda asked.

“Same crew minus one.” Jerry said.

“Really? Who?”

“Jessica. She moved to Canada last month.” Jerry said in a sad voice.

“That sucks.” Linda pouted.

“I thought you were friends with her? You didn’t know?” Iris asked.

“The thing about counselors is that we are super duper close friends during the summer at camp, but once we leave we don’t keep in touch at all. Then we go back to camp and it’s like time hasn’t changed one bit.” Linda said.

“Well the rest of the gang should be here any minute so you guys can get settled in the bus and get the good seats.” Jerry said.

The two went inside of the bus and got the seats in the back of the bus. They each got their own seat so that they could stretch out their legs and Linda sat in the seat in front of Iris. Soon enough, more counselors started arriving and Linda introduced her to all of them.

First there was Scott. He was into all things sports and he had muscle for days, but honestly he seemed a little intense at times. Jessie was the next one to arrive. She had short flowy brown hair that came down to her shoulders with the same color eyes and she spoke the most beautiful Spanish. Apparently she got a full time scholarship for swimming at her college. Next was Caitlin. She had gorgeous light brown hair and she had a really contagious smile. She is super earthy, loves everything about nature, and is super big on being vegan and recycling. Cisco was next. He was the youngest out of all of the group. He was going to be a senior this year and he was short enough that he could pass as one of the kids. He is an intense gamer so his phone is basically glued to his hand at all times. After Cisco, Julian came. He had a thick British accent and he was so tall that his head almost hit the ceiling when he stood up. He seemed sort of snobby, but Linda said that once you get to know him he has a sweet heart. So far everyone seemed really nice. They all welcomed Iris is super quickly and treated her like family.

They were all mingling and catching up on the past year when Iris nudged Linda. “Hey, why are we waiting so long.”

“Barry is still not here.” Scott chimed in.

“Are we surprised though?” Jesse said laughing.

“He’s always late to the bus.” Julian said.

“He’s late to everything.” Linda said, causing the whole bus to die laughing.

“Who is Barry?” Iris asked.

“He is the final counselor in our little group. We all love him to death, but he tends to be late a lot and he is the biggest nerd we know.” Caitlin said, drifting her head to look out the window. “Speaking of the devil.”

Iris looked over and saw a tall slim guy running across the parking lot, trying to keep his duffle bag from falling off his shoulder. As soon as he got on the bus, every one applauded him and he held out his hands so they could stop. “I’m here, I’m here.” He said with a smile.

“Barry Allen, are those muscles I see.” Jesse called out, moving her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Muy bien papi. Muy bien.”

“Well I’ve been working out a lot this year so yeah.” He said shyly, sitting down in his seat.

Sooner or later everyone drifted into having their own conversations again and Iris now got a chance to really look at Barry. He actually looked pretty cute, like in a nerdy sort of way. He had gorgeous green eyes and tiny little moles all over his body and suddenly she couldn’t breathe for a second. She didn’t know what it was about him, but she was very intrigued by his presence.

She didn’t even realize she was staring until Barry looked back at her. Her body froze and she couldn’t look away. He had her captured and she didn’t know why. He gave a small smirk, but there moment was interrupted by Jerry slamming on his horn.

“Ok party people. Let’s get this old show on the road!” he yelled.

The whole bus roared in excitement and pumped their fists like they were about at some sort of rock concert. It was all just a good atmosphere to be in and Iris hated that Linda was right. She was actually going to love it here.

 

After an hour ride, the teens finally arrived at the camp site. The camp was bigger than what Iris expected. When they first came in there was a sign that said “Camp Mountain Peak” with a 3D replica of a huge mountain beside it. Once you were in the camp there was a huge pavilion with rows of benches in them, a huge lake that shined under the sun, a huge ropes course for the kids, a fire pit, a few more buildings, and beautiful cabins on both sides of the path. It was actually pretty fancy for a kids camp.

The bus came to a stop in front of all the cabins and all the teens rushed out to stretch their legs and breathe in the fresh air again.

“Alright people, you know the drill. Boys cabins on the left, girls on the right. Everyone get settled then meet me in the pavilion in twenty minutes.” He clapped his hands together and was on his way. The girls and the boys went their separate ways and Iris followed Linda to their cabin.

“So obviously the counselor cabins are bigger than the kid ones.” She said walking through the screen door. “We have our own bathroom and bigger beds.” She said plopping down on the bed closest to the door.

“We also have outlets so you can charge your phone and I brought a fan.” Jesse said.

“Thank goodness.” Iris said in relief. The humidity was probably going to kill her before all of the mosquitoes would. She took a look around the room and it was actually really nice. It was a wide open space filled with six beds and the beds were spread out nicely so they didn’t have to feel like they were being squished.

Iris claimed the bed next to Linda and Jesse and Caitlin took the ones across. All the girls put all of their clothes away while blasting some of Linda’s trap music and just goofing off.

When they were done, they all sat on Jesse’s bed to talk. “So Iris, “ Caitlin said with a grin. “Do you like any of our guys.”

“Oh my God.” Iris sighed with a smile. “We are starting this already.”

“Of course we are!” screeched Jesse. “Now spill.”

“Well who do you guys like.” Iris questioned the girls.

“I think I’m going to projectile vomit.” Linda said, pretending to hold back puke.

“Same here.” Caitlin and Jesse said in unison.

“What?” Iris laughed. “You don’t think they’re cute.”

“Gosh no.” Jesse said. “We’ve all been friends since we were campers. They’re like brothers to us.”

“Yeah, love them all to death, but I would NEVER date any of them.” Linda said.

“But you don’t know them like we do Iris. So who do you like.” Caitlin questioned again.

“Well…umm….” Iris said, face turning hot, “Barry is kinda hot.”

“I knew you would like him. He is so your type.” Linda screeched.

“Barry changed so much over the last year. I can totally see it.” Jesse chimed in.

“Well anyway, it’s just a crush, nothing serious. We barely even spoke on the ride up here.” Iris explained.

“Whatever. You’ll like him, I know it, he is the sweetest.” Linda said. She looked down at her phone and swore. “Crap it’s been thirty minutes. We’re ten minutes late.”

The girls bolted out of their cabin and dashed down the long path to get to the pavilion. By the time that they got there, all the other boy counselors, Jerry, and Lucas were waiting for them.

“Sorry…we’re late…we lost track….of time.” Caitlin tried to say, trying to talk and catch her breath at the same time.

“It’s alright ladies, I think your shortness of breath is punishment enough.” Lucas laughed. Like his husband Jerry, Lucas looked exactly like a hot lumberjack too. The only thing that made them different was his red hair and his leaner muscles.

The girls sat down across the table from the boys and Jerry and Lucas stood at the head.

“So we’re going to do camp assignments. These will be your station for the full two weeks that you are here.” Jerry said.

“I was thinking we could do what we did last year. Jesse and Cisco on swimming, Scott and Julian on recreational activities, Linda and Barry on arts and crafts, and Iris you can join Caitlin with the nature station.” Lucas said. “Is that good for everyone?”

Everyone was about to nod in agreement when Linda shot up her hand. “Yes Linda?” Lucas asked.

“Actually I was wondering if I could switch with Iris.” She said. Iris bumped her leg under the table, but Linda bumped her right back. Iris knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to get her and Barry together to talk more. Why did she ever tell her anything?

“I’ve always been better at the nature section and I can’t draw to save my life. But Iris is actually a really great artist and she will probably be more comfortable there.” Linda said with a smirk.

“Is that alright with you Iris?” Jerry asked.

“Umm.” Iris started. Linda pinched her thigh to make her say yes. “Yeah, I would love to. Art is sort of my passion so I can do it.”

“Great!” Jerry said. “ Today we are going to set up all of the bunks, food, toys, and other stuff for the kids. Tomorrow you will spend the day making up a lesson plan with your partners and then the day after that is your fun day.” Lucas said.

“Ok boys you have snack duty and please don’t eat all of the food, girls have bunk duty, I’ll get all of the canoes and lake stuff, and Lucas you can gather all of the other gadgets and toys for the kids.” Jerry announced.

“Ok. SPLIT.” Lucas yelled and everyone dashed to where they had to be.

Iris was annoyed that Linda made her be partners with Barry, but she was really grateful that she did all the same. Barry had sparked her interests when he first stepped onto the bus and physically, he was very hot. But now she is getting the chance to really get to know him. To find out what makes Barry, Barry. And something tells her that Barry is getting to be even better on the inside than he is on the outside.


	2. The Big Day

Iris, Linda, Caitlin, and Jesse returned to their rooms and they were _exhausted._ They thought that taking care of the bunks would be easy, but it was actually very tiring.

They had to wash and dry all of the sheets, blankets, and pillows and place them on every single bunk. There were two boy cabins and two girl cabins. So in total there were fifty beds that they had to cover. After they covered every bed, they had to place name tags on all of them. Iris had perfect calligraphy so she managed to make them look absolutely perfect. Then they had to make four posters that stated the cabin rules for the kids.

  1. NO eating in the cabin. All eating must be done in the cafeteria.
  2. NO stealing of other’s belongings
  3. RESPECT the privacy of others
  4. Lights OFF at 8:30
  5. NO talking after lights out
  6. NO leaving the cabin after lights out
  7. Use the phone on the wall to call the counselor cabin in case of EMERGENCY
  8. NO BULLYING OF ANY KIND!



The job would have gone by a lot faster if they split up, one girl doing one cabin, but they decided to do all of them together. This caused them to just laugh and talk about their favorite shows and movies the whole time. Due to all of this, they lost track of time once again, and they had to rush to get everything done.

They returned to their cabins around 9:00 and went straight towards their beds. Caitlin and Jesse fell asleep right away, but Linda and Iris stayed up just a little while longer to talk.

“Nervous about tomorrow?” Linda whispered. Reading her best friend’s mind was her specialty.

“Yeah. I have to spend a whole entire day with him. What am I supposed to say?” Iris whispered back.

“Don’t worry about it too much. Barry is so sweet and super _super_ talkative. You guys will find something in common.”

“I hope.” She sighed.

“Just think, we just have to get through tomorrow and then we have our fun day.” Linda whispered excitedly.

“What exactly is that?” Iris asked.

“It’s honestly the best time at camp. When the kids come we don’t get to have as much free time, so on fun day we go swimming, make s'mores, have water gun fights, and maybe a little bit of alcohol at the end of the night. You’re gonna love it.”

“Wow. That actually does sound fun.”

“Told ya. Now go to bed. I’m tired.” Linda said, cocooning herself into her blankets.

“Goodnight.” Iris whispered.

“Goodnight.”

 

Iris woke up to the sound of a loud air horn being screeched though the intercom outside. She sprang up in her bed in shock and saw the other three girls doing the same. Everyone was groaning to go back to sleep and Jesse was saying things in Spanish that were most likely curse words.

“Rise and shine camp counselors. Meet in the mess hall in one hour.” Lucas said over the intercom, his voice a little too peppy for someone who is awake at this ungodly hour (which was actually only 9:00)

The girls got ready super quickly, not wanting to be late again and were there before the boys were. They got in line for food and Iris was pleasantly surprised by her choices. When she went to camp when she was younger she had some sort of questionable meat with bland squishy fruit. Here they had muffins, eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, and a whole buffet of other delicious breakfast food.

“Jerry is an amazing cook and he puts together everything by himself. I honestly don’t know how he does it.” Linda said, grabbing a plate for herself and giving another one to Iris

“Well everything looks amazing.” Iris said, her mouth watering already.

“Just make sure you get everything that you want because the boys devour everything in sight.” Linda laughed.

“Not our fault we have to feed these muscles.” Scott said, flexing his arms.

“Oh please.” Caitlin said rolling her eyes with a laugh.

They all sat down at the same table and Barry was sitting right across from Iris. She noticed that he had the healthiest meal out of all of them. He had oatmeal, a banana, yogurt, and a carton of milk. It actually made her feel pretty guilty of her own bacon, home fries, chocolate chip muffin, and a cup of fruit.

She was about to take a bite out of her bacon when she heard a large gasp coming from the end of the table.

“I just realized something.” Scott said with a look of shock on his face.

“What.” Cisco asked.

“Iris doesn’t have a camp nickname.” Scott said incredulously.

“We. Are. In. Crisis. Mode.” Cisco screamed. “She need a camp nickname!” he screamed then turned his head to look at Iris “You need a camp nickname!”

“Why is that?” Iris laughed.

“It’s just this little thing that we did for fun. When we were little we all gave each other embarrassing nicknames at camp. It’s usually something to make fun of you.” Caitlin said. “I’m New Girl because I was the last one to join camp when I moved.”

“I’m Thick because when I was little I had a thick accent…but maybe now I think it could mean something else.” Julian said with a devilish grin.

“Julian, ugh! Why do you say the most disgusting things?” Jesse groaned in disgust. “Anyway, I’m Mosquito because I was bitten by so many in one summer and I was itching like crazy.”

“That’s not why they called you that.” Barry laughed.

“What?” Jesse said confused.

“They called you that because you sucked the fun out of everything.” Everyone died laughing, but Jesse still didn’t get it. “You would always tell the counselors when we were being bad and cried after every game that you lost.” Barry explained.

“Well at least it’s better than Rash Boy.” Jesse sneered back at him.

“Rash Boy?” Iris laughed looking at Barry.

“When I get nervous or when I’m lying I rub my neck as a coping mechanism. I was nervous at camp all of the time, so I would rub my neck, but everyone thought I had a rash.”

“Aw you poor thing.” Iris said.

“Oh, but mine’s worse.” Scott said. “First night of camp I wet the bed so everyone started calling me Smellow Yellow.”

“That’s awful.” Iris snorted.

“I’m Bloody Mary because every time I was hit, even lightly, I would start gushing blood everywhere.” Cisco said.

“Ouch.” Iris flinched. “Guess that just leaves you Linda. What’s your nickname.”

“Mine was Spark.” Linda said with a grin.

“Let me guess, it’s a play on words with your last name.” Iris said.

“Yup because when I was little, I used to kiss all of the boys at camp and we always had sparks.” Linda said, making jazz hands.

“No.” Iris said amused. “Did you kiss any of them?” She said pointing to the guys.

“I was all of their first kisses.” Linda said proudly.

“Yup.” All of the boys said together.

“I didn’t really like them, but I thought of it as a game. How many first kisses can I steal before camp ends.” Linda said.

“I cant.” Iris laughed.

“But what should Iris’s name be?” Cisco  said.

“I don’t know. Linda is the one that probably knows all of her traumatic experiences.” Scott said.

Linda thought about it for a moment and started laughing at the first thought that came into her head.

“What?” Iris asked.

“Pot Head.” Linda said and Iris instantly knew what traumatic experience she was talking about. The memory of that night came back into their heads and they were both practically dying of laughter.

“Oh I got to know this story.” Barry said.

“So Iris is like _obsessed_ with brownies. She can eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner if you let her. So freshman year we were both super duper innocent and we went to this senior party and they had trays of brownies. Naturally, Iris grabbed five and ate all of them one after the other. What she didn’t know, was that they were pot brownies. So Iris was as high as a freaking airplane, let alone kite. So I bring her home and she walks into her living room where her mom, dad, and 12 year old brother are, and she starts stripping. Not like just taking off her clothes, she does that and is dancing provocatively and singing this inaudible song. I tried to make her stop, but she just kept going.” Linda laughed.

“Mind you that my dad is the head of the police department.” Iris laughed. “I was grounded for at least two months and my dad had to talk to my school about drug use.”

“I think that has to be the best story that I have ever heard in my life.” Barry laughed.

“So Pot Head it is.” Cisco said.

 

When everyone was done eating, they all separated with their partners to the place where they needed to be to plan. Barry led Iris down the path to some warehouse behind some trees that she has never seen before.

“What is this place?” Iris asked while Barry tried to find the keys to open the door.

“This is the shed. We keep all of the extra snacks, art supplies, extra medical supplies, toys, and other stuff for the lake.” He jammed the key into the lock and gave the handle a little twist. “There we go.”

Inside the shed there were rows of everything that Barry had said, it kinda looked like a small convenient store. She walked over to where she saw all of the art supplies and scanned to see what they have.

“So the kids are here for a week, so we have to come up with seven activities.”

“Ok what about macaroni necklaces?” Iris asked.

“It’s a classic, but we already did that last year and the kids get bored if we do the same things.”

“Umm.” She said scanning the shelves again. “We could have them write cards for their family and they could draw what they see outside on it.” Iris suggested.

“Yeah that’s cool.” Barry walked over to the shelf and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen to write down their plan. “I could ask Lucas if we can actually send them too.”

“That would be sweet.” Iris said.

Barry thought for a moment and finally said, “Friendship bracelets?”

“Yeah and we can have them pick a name out of a hat and they could make them a bracelet and give it to them.”

“Ok you are way to good at this.” Barry laughed.

“I just have a lot of imagination up here.” She said pointing to her head.

“Oh really?” Barry laughed.

“Yup. I’m going to Rhode Island School of Design in the fall. Art is sort of my passion.” Iris said.

“That’s so cool what kind of art do you do?”

“All kinds really. I like doing portraits, cartoons, watercolors, and stuff like that. I hope to do some stuff for animation companies like Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks someday.”

“That’s amazing.” Barry smiled.

“What about you?” Iris asked. “What are you thinking about being?”

“A doctor. My dad is one and I’ve always looked up to him so.”

“That’s so cool. Where are you studying?”

“Brown University actually. I think it’s like ten minutes away from RISD.”

“Oh my God yeah. Guess we’ll be seeing each other a lot then.” Iris smiled. Her heart did a mini summersault at the thought of being at her dream school and walking though the city with him.

“Looks like it.” He smiled back.

They were looking at each other again and she was trapped in his dreamy green eyes. It felt like time stopped, like they were the only people on earth and nothing else mattered. She didn’t want to move from this spot. It was so pure and she wanted to keep it locked away from the world and keep it all to herself.

“So we got two days down, five more to go.” Barry said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, let’s keep going.” Iris said, but she really didn’t mean it. She wanted to keep talking to him and get to know him much better.

It didn’t take that long for them to come up with the rest of the activities. They were both very creative and they came up with a lot of great ideas. They got all of the supplies that they needed and left the shed.

“So what now? We finished our lesson plan so what do we do?” Iris asked. They were walking down the path towards the front of the camp and Iris was trying to keep up with Barry’s long strides.

“Now that we know what we want to do, we actually have to make them so the kids have a visual of what it should look like.” Barry informed.

“Oh ok. Maybe I can do Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and you can do Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and we can both do Tuesday together?” Iris suggested.

“Yeah that’s great. Linda would always make me do all of them, so it’s nice to share the work.” Barry laughed.

“Yup, that sounds like Linda.” Iris said getting into the art pavilion.

They got inside and placed everything that they had on the table. They separated the supplies for certain days and got to work.

“So you said your dad is a doctor, what does your mom do?” Iris asked, grabbing a clean sheet of paper to start her card.

“She used to be an English teacher.” Barry said, not looking up from his paper mache.

“Used to be? So what does she do now?” Iris asked.

“She died when I was ten. She had a brain aneurysm.” Barry said somberly.

“Barry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.” Iris said.

“No, it’s ok. It happened a long time ago. Her death actually made me want to become a doctor as well. I want to make sure that no one else loses one of the people that they love from something awful.”

“Good for you Barry for wanting to do some good in this world.” Iris said.

“As I like to say, In a world filled with Tom Buchanans, try to be a Nick Carraway.”

“You’ve read The Great Gatsby?” Iris said perplexed.

“Of course! It’s my favorite book of all time.” Barry exclaimed. “So we beat on, boats against the current…”

“Borne back ceaselessly into the past.” They both said together.

“Classic.” Iris said amused. “I think I’ve read that book about 50 times.”

“Same.” Barry laughed. “I mean the book was so well written. Everything had a deeper meaning to it and all the imagery was just amazing!” Barry smiled.

His smile, his _real_ smile, was the cutest thing she has ever seen. He had a slight dimple on his cheek that was just adorable and the skin around his eyes would scrunch up together and she just wanted to take a picture of this smile right here and keep it close to her heart forever.

Barry looked over at the card that Iris was drawing he gasped. “Iris how the heck did you do that?”

“What?” She said confused.

“Your drawing is _amazing_. It’s like cartoony and realistic at the same time. And everything has so much detail.” He said incredulously. It wasn’t all that. Just a couple of trees, a lake, some people, and some buildings in the distance. It wasn’t that much, but he made her fell like it was a work of art that belonged in a gallery.

“Yeah, I got a little carried away. It still needs some work though.” Iris blushed.

“Well it looks incredible right now.”

“Well your paper mache is looking really nice as well.” Iris laughed.

“Let’s hope.” Barry said. He had just finished putting wet pieces of newspaper around a balloon for the ‘what do you want your planet to look like’. It was a two day project and tomorrow Barry is going to paint it once it dries.

They finished making all of the projects and put all of them in one of the cabinets in the room. They decided to show each other the friendship bracelets that they made the day the kids made theirs so it could be a surprise. They organized the rest of the supplies and made their way down to the mess hall for lunch.

 

After lunch, Iris didn’t get to see Barry again. Since they had finished way before the others had, they went to join the others in helping them. Barry helped Lucas and Jerry with figuring out extra fun stuff for the kids, while Iris went to help Linda and Caitlin.

They were done with figuring out their lesson, but they didn’t want to do other stuff so they decided to chill in the woods.

“The crush has grown hasn't it.” Linda said amused, sitting on a tree stump.

“It has not.” Iris said, but her flushed face suggested something else.

“Omg it so has, you’re blushing.” Caitlin laughed.

“Ok maybe it has, but I couldn’t help it. He loves helping people, he loves literature, he is funny, and get this…he is going to the college that is right next to mine.”

“It’s fate. The universe is pulling you two together. You _have_ to go for him now.” Linda said.

“I don’t want to rush anything. And what if he doesn’t like me back? We are stuck here together for a week.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try Iris.” Linda said seriously. “You deserve someone as great as Barry. He is not going to hurt you.”

Linda didn’t say much, but Iris saw the message hidden behind her words very clearly.

Barry wasn’t going to hurt her the way that Eddie hurt her.


	3. A Day of Fun

Eddie was Iris’s first and only love. They started dating when they were only ten years old and they were together for seven years. They were so in love with each other that they started saving up their money from part time jobs so that they could get married after they graduate high school. He was her whole entire world, but she wasn't his.

At the end of Junior year, Eddie changed completely. He started being less affectionate and more aggressive. He didn’t physically harm her, but he hurt her in so many painful ways that it left more permanent scars than any physical wound could ever do. He would make her think that she was the dirt that he walks on and would tell her that she was lucky to be with him. He would isolate her from her family and friends and told her to stop hanging out with them because it was for her own good.

When Iris said that she wasn’t ready to have sex with him, they got into a huge fight where Iris started crying and Eddie accused her of not loving him. She told him that she is giving up her life for him, but he didn’t listen. He went out after that and screwed as many girls as he could, leaving Iris feeling broken and empty inside.

They broke up after that and since then Iris hasn’t even thought about being with anyone else, but then she met Barry. Barry was different. He was intriguing and compassionate and she felt like she could trust him. She didn’t want to start anything with him just yet though because she didn’t want to ruin their blossoming friendship.

 

Unlike the day before, she woke up to the sounds of Linda’s screams. Her head whipped up and before she knew it, water was being sprayed all over her. She tried to open her eyes to see who was doing it, but the water was right in her face. The water was ice cold and her clothes were sticking to her skin.

“STOP….STOP….IT’S SO COLD….STOP.” Linda screamed.

Suddenly, the water stopped coming and all of the other girls’ screams died down. She opened her eyes to see who her purpatrayer was and what she saw was Barry standing over her with a huge bucket of water.

“Barry…NO.” She screamed, but it was too late. He dropped the whole bucket of water on top of her head and he and all the boys ran for their lives.

“WHAT. THE. HELL.” Jesse screamed, piercing everyone’s eardrums.

“I’m going to MURDER them.” Linda groaned.

Iris looked down and her whole entire body was soaked in water. She was instantly grateful that she decided to wear her hair naturally for camp instead of straightening it because she would be beyond pissed if they ruined it.

“What are we going to do?” Iris groaned, getting out of her bed so that she could grab a towel.

“I don’t know, but whatever we do, it has to be good.” Caitlin said in a devilish voice.

While the girls were drying off and changing into fresh clothes they created a plan to get back the boys.

 

Iris walked down to the mess hall by herself, the only thing still wet was her hair, and sat down where they boys were sitting.

“Hey guys.” Iris said normally, grabbing one of Cisco’s hash browns.

“Heeeeey Iris.” Barry said cautiously. He looked from her to the rest of the guys, back to her and to the rest of the guys again who held the same expression as his own.

Iris noticed the confusion on their face and decided to clarify. “Guys I’m not mad about the water.” She laughed, causing the rest of the guys to sigh in relief. “I actually thought it was a good prank.”

“Wasn’t it though, I mean we hit you guys hard.” Julian aid, high fiving  the rest of the guys.

“But the rest of the girls are _pissed._ Their coming up with a revenge plan right now.”

“Why aren’t you with them?” Barry asked.

“I thought that if I bowed out of pranking you guys, you wouldn’t prank me back. I don’t have the energy or patience for a prank war.”

“C’mon Iris, that’s what makes today so much fun.” Barry said.

“Whatever, I need some food.” Iris got up from her seat and immediately her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted to the ground.

“Oh my God! Iris!” Barry yelled, rushing to Iris’s side.

The boys surrounded her, not really knowing what to do.

“Barry you’re dad’s a doctor, what do we do?” Scott yelled.

“I don’t know!” Barry screamed. “Get some water or something and get Lucas and Jerry.” He yelled to no one in particular, but the rest of the boys stayed frozen in shock. He looked back at Iris and started to gently shake her. “Iris, can you hear me? Iris cmon wake up.”

Suddenly, the rest of the girls started to rush in when they heard the screaming. Linda rushed to Iris’s side, a wave of worry spreading across her face.

“What happened?” Linda yelled.

“I don’t know she was fine all of a sudden and then she collapsed on the ground.” Barry said in shock.

“Oh my God, Iris!” She moved Barry out of the way and he stood next to the rest of the guys, all standing like statues.

“Did you guys get the water from the lake?” Linda said, turning to the group of guys behind her.

“Y…y…yeah.” Julian  blurted out. “We always get water for the water guns there.”

“You idiots!” Linda said petrified. She turned to Caitlin and Jesse. “Go to Iris’s bed side table and there should be a little blue pouch there with medication and get Jerry or Lucas.”

“Linda what is going on?” Cisco yelled, sweating in fear.

“Iris is allergic to salt water! The chemicals in it cause her body to shut down.” Linda said, cradling Iris’s limp body in her arms. The boys were huddled together and started freaking out with guilt. They were sweating and panting and they were actually crying.

“We didn’t know Linda.” Julian yelled.

“I feel awful.” Cisco cried.

“This is all my fault. It was my idea to prank you guys.” Barry sobbed.

Linda looked at all of the boys crying before her and in a flash, she whipped out her cellphone and took a picture.

The boys didn’t even have time to react because suddenly, Caitlin and Jesse came up behind them with a bucket filled with disgusting, cold mud and dumped it all over them.

“What the hell!” Scott yelled, wiping the mud from his face.

Caitlin and Jesse joined Iris and Linda on the floor and they started to die of laughter. They took another look at the boys covered in mud and they started laughing even more.

“What is going on!” Julian yelled.

“We hit you guys hard.” Iris said, mimicking Jordan’s previous comment and getting up from the ground with the rest of the girls.

“But you said you didn’t like pranks.” Cisco whined.

“It was all an act.” Iris laughed. “I’m not allergic to salt water either, but I wish I could’ve seen your faces when I fainted.”

“Geesh that was a good prank.” Barry said.

“We know.” Iris said smuggly.

“But I’m just glad that you’re ok.” Barry said inching closer to her.

“Thanks.” She said, but she was immediately pulled into a big bear hug by Barry, his clothes caked in mud getting all over her.

“Barry. Nooo.” She whined.

The rest of the guys looked at each other and back at the girls, but the girls were running at the speed of light already. The guys chased after them, leaving Barry and Iris alone.

“I’m really glad that you’re ok though. I thought I was going to lose you.” Barry said, still holding on to her.

“You can’t lose what you don’t have Barry Allen.” Iris said with a wink, slipping out of his muddy embrace.

She walked away to go wash her clothes, but didn’t leave before looking back at Barry smiling that smile that she loved so much.

 

The gang decided to wash off by going swimming in the lake. When Iris came out of the bathroom with her bathing suit on, all of the girls started to whistle and scream.

“Did it just get hot in here or is it just me?” Caitlin said, waving her hand like it was a fan.

“Iris your body is amazing.” Linda said.

“Whatever.” She laughed, “Let’s just go.” She said grabbing her towel.

They met the guys at the lake and when they saw the girls coming they gawked at the sight of them.

“Close your mouth Scott. There are flies all around here.” Linda said, pushing his jaw up to close it.

“Sorry.” He said.

Iris found Barry staring at her breasts and when he saw that he was caught, his face turned as red as the tiny bikini she had on. He rubbed his neck and Iris remembered that that was something he did when he was nervous. She decided to let him off the hook and ease him of his nervousness.

“Barry don’t worry, once I get in the water I won’t pass out again.” Iris joked.

“Well maybe we should test that theory.” Barry smiled.

“Wha—“ Iris said. Barry picked her up from her legs and draped her body across his shoulders.

“Barry! Put me down!” She giggled.

He ran towards the end of the dock and threw Iris into the water. Barry stood on top of the dock laughing, but it soon turned to worry once he didn’t see Iris pop up. He immediately dove right into the water and tried to find her in the dark blue waters, but came to no luck because he couldn’t see.

Once he got up for air, Iris was there laughing at him. “Truce?” Iris asked.

“Truce.” Barry said, splashing her with water. She splashed him back and soon enough it turned into a full out splashing war between the two. Truce be damned.

“Gosh, I could cut the sexual tension with a knife.” Jesse whispered.

“I know. He _really_ likes her. He hasn’t stopped talking about her since we got here.” Scott said rolling his eyes.

“Wait Barry likes her too?” Linda asked.

“Yup. Does Iris like him?” Scott asked.

“Yup.” Linda said. “How long do you think till they admit their feelings?”

“Hopefully soon.” Jesse sighed, moving towards the water. “Hopefully soon.”

 

They spent the whole day playing in the water, tanning, playing man hunt, and just having a lot of fun and laughing. Once it got dark, they decided to build a huge campfire in the woods and make s’mores. Cisco also snuck in a pack of beer for everyone.

“Let’s play Never Have I Ever.” Julian suggested. “If you _have_ done it, then you have to take a sip of beer. No questions asked, no judgment.”

“I’m in.” Caitlin stated, everyone agreeing with her.“Never have I ever made out with a stranger.”

Iris was the only one to drink. It was right after she broke up with Eddie and she just wanted to have some fun with a random hook up.

“Never have I ever flashed anyone.” Linda said.

Jesse, Cisco, Iris and Scott took a sip………it was a crazy time senior year.

“Never have I ever had a threesome.” Scott said.

No one drank, thank God.

“Never have I ever smoked anything.” Barry said.

Caitlin, Linda, and Julian took a sip.

“Never have I ever broken up with someone.” Iris said.

Everyone drank.

“Never have I ever been in love.” Julian said.

Iris was the only one to drink.

“Well, guess I’m out.” Iris said, shaking her empty beer can.

“Why don’t you get more wood for the fire.” Julian said.

“Sure.” Iris said.

“I’ll come with you.” Barry said, getting up from his seat. “I know the path in and out.”

The two of them walked throughout the dark woods with their flashlights, trying to find large pieces of wood to fuel the fire.

“I’m pretty sure I only saw you sip once.” Iris noted, making conversation.

“Yeah. I’ve only had one girlfriend, it wasn’t anything serious though. Then for the other stuff, I guess I’m not as wild as the rest of you.” He laughed

“Are you telling me that someone as hot as you has only had one girlfriend?” Iris said amazed.

Barry stopped in his tracks and stared at Iris with a smile. “You think I’m hot?”

Iris blushed and she prayed to God that he couldn’t see her through the darkness. “I never said that.” Iris said frantically.

“Yes you did.” He said inching closer to her.

Then suddenly the liquor started kicking in and Iris found a new sense of confidence. “Ok, so what if I did? What are you going to do about it?” She said flirtatiously, stepping closer to him. Now they were centimeters apart, practically sharing the same exact air.

“This.” He said, and before she knew it, his lips were on hers. It wasn’t sloppy or hungry, it was sweet and gentle, like Barry was trying to make the kiss perfect. He tasted like salted caramel mixed with coffee, a sweet combination that she couldn’t get enough of.

This was the first _real_ kiss that she’s had since Eddie and it was like a fire was ignited deep in her core, a fire that has been gone for a long time now.

She was about to lean in closer to deepen the kiss, when they heard the sound of crunching leaves approaching them. They jumped away from each other and tried to act as normal as possible.

“Guys hurry up, the fire is about to go out.” Linda said quickly and ran off back to the fire.

“So ummm.” Iris said awkwardly. “The firewood.”

“Yeah umm the firewood.” He said rubbing his neck again, he walked in front of her and continued on the path.

Iris wanted to kick herself. _“So ummm, the firewood?”_ That’s all she could say after she had the best kiss of her life? She was such an idiot! She just hoped that she didn’t ruin anything with him, she actually really liked him. She didn’t want anything to be awkward between them, especially since they have to work together all throughout the week. She would confront him later, when the time was right.


	4. The kids arrive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow ok i'm so so so so so sorry I took FOREVER to update. I've been super busy lately and I've had a bad case of writers block when it comes to where I'm going exactly with this story. I finally got back in my groove, so you can definitely expect another chapter either tomorrow or the next day. Sorry again.

“Oh my God, you kissed him?” Linda half yelled as they were walking to the mess hall.

“Lower your voice.” Iris said slapping her arm. “I don’t want everyone to know.”

“Was it good?” Linda smiled.

Iris paused for a second, thinking about the kiss, and bit her bottom lip.

“OMG it was!” Linda screamed again, causing Iris to shush her. “What are you gonna do?” She said quietly this time.

“I’m going to talk to him after breakfast.”

“Tell me everything once you do.”

“Of course!”

They walked into the large mess hall and got their breakfast for the day. Iris tried to catch Barry’s attention at the table, but he was too busy talking to Julian about some lame action movie that just came out.

When everyone was eating, Jerry  came over to the table.

“Ok, we need two people to come with me to gather all of the kids on the bus. Any volunteers?”

“I’ll go.” Barry said willingly, he knew no one else was going to volunteer so he took it upon himself to do so.

“I’ll go to.” Iris said excitedly. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible and she got excited that they would be able to get away for a bit.

“Great. Meet me in the front in ten. Here are everyone’s uniforms, there are more of them in your cabins.” He said handing out a dark purple short sleeve shirt with a small picture of a mountain and the camp logo on the breast pocket. They were bold so that the kids could spot the counselors much easily.

All of the counselors left to go change their shirts except Barry and Iris.

“So about last night.” Barry said bluntly. Iris felt the pack of butterflies sworn around in her core. “It was wrong of me to kiss you. You were drinking and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that.” He said solemnly.

“Barry—“ Iris tried to explain.

“Plus we were just in the moment, it didn’t mean anything.” He said simply.

“Yeah yeah.” Iris said, trying to act like the kiss meant nothing, but really it meant _everything_. “I was super tipsy, I didn’t really know what I was doing.” She lied.

“So…friends?.” He smiled.

“Yup.” She said in an over the top happy tone.

In the inside she wanted to die. She felt like something was being ripped from her heart. She felt like there was nothing she could do to change his mind, to make her see her the way she sees him.

 

The two quickly changed into their uniform shirts and met Jerry and Lucas at the entrance of the camp. There were two buses. A big one for all of the kids and a smaller one for all of their luggage. Both Barry and Iris rode in the small bus together and it wasn’t as awkward as Iris thought it was going to be.

It was an hour drive to the site where all of the campers were and Barry and Iris easily drifted into a comfortable conversation. They talked about their families, childhoods, dreams, and the more she got to really know Barry, the more she wanted to be with him.

There was just something about him that was irresistible. The way he talked with such passion and drive and how his eyes would just light up like a Christmas tree was breathtaking. And the way he looked at her when she talked gave her heart palpitations. He wasn’t just listening to her, he was _engaged_ in the conversation and he looked like he wanted to hear more.

He was just so cute and adorable, but she couldn’t have him. He didn’t want her like that. It drove her crazy that he was right there, so close, but his heart was somewhere else.

They arrived at the school parking lot and there were already a lot of kids and parents waiting for the bus. Iris had a sheet of all the kids that signed up and she marked their name when they came while Barry took their bags and loaded it onto the smaller bus. Jerry and Lucas talked to all of the parents and made sure to answer all of their questions and assure their worrying minds that their kids will be safe for the rest of the week.

Once all of the kids were there, they were off. Iris had to settle down some rowdy kids on the way to the camp, but other than that it was a pretty chill ride. They sang a couple of songs, told some stories, and Iris got to know some of the kids that she was sitting near.

When they got to the camp and everyone got their bags, Jerry ordered everyone to go into the mess hall.

“Ok kids, I hope everyone is ready to have a day of fun because we got some great things planned out for you. Right now I want everyone to go find their cabins and get settled. Your name should be on the sheet outside of each cabin and right next to your name will be your tribes for the week.” He stared at all the kids and paused for anticipation. “Ok, GO.” He yelled and all the kids ran out of the room like lightning.

Iris and Linda went to the girls cabin that they were assigned to and got to know their kids. It was a group of six girls ranging from 8-10 and they seemed liked little angels.

One of the girls was sitting all by herself on her bed and she looked as though she was the youngest in the group. She was hugging her knees and had her face crouched down. Iris went up to her and sat on her bed to see if she could get her to open up.

“Hey sweetie, what’s your name?” Iris said softly.

She lifted up her face and now Iris could see the tears streaming from under her big purple glasses. “L…L….Lilly.” She sniffed.

Iris tucked a loose strand behind Lilly’s ear and wiped the tears away. “Well we already have something in common. My name is a name of a flower too.”

“Really?” She beamed, tears pushed aside.

“Yup, I’m Iris. Now, why are you crying Lilly?”

“I miss my mommy and daddy.” She moped, her smile transforming into a frown.

“I’m sure you do sweetie, but you will be able to see them soon. I’m sure they miss you just as much too. And if you ever need anything you can always come and find me and I’ll be there for you, ok.”

“Ok.” She smiled, giving Iris a big hug.

“Now, let’s go join the rest of the girls.” Iris smiled, taking Lilly's hand and guiding her to where Linda had huddled the rest of the girls in the front.

 

After the kids met up with their tribes, everyone went to the activities that they were supposed to go, but Linda didn’t let Iris leave without talking to her first. She pulled her over to a secret spot behind the cabins and whispered, “So how did it go!” she said excitedly.

“Terrible.” Iris said flatly.

The wide smiled sprawled across Linda’s face quickly fell and she immediately went into comforting best friend mode by rubbing Iris’s arm. “What happened?”

“He said that the kiss was a mistake because I was tipsy and he was taking advantage of me. I tried to tell him that I very much wanted the kiss whether I was sober or not, but he stopped me before I could. Said the kiss didn’t mean anything to him. I got the hint that he didn’t like me back.” Iris said looking down. “Now we’re just friends.” She said bitterly.

“Oh, Iris. I’m so sorry.” Linda said.

“It’s fine.” Iris sighed. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t force him to fall for me.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I will be.” Iris said and she left it that.

 

Iris made her way to the art pavilion and saw that Barry was already explaining the project to the first tribe of kids. She held back at the door, waiting to make herself known so she could watch him for just a little bit longer. He talked to the kids so easily and they were actually paying attention to him. Usually it’s hard to get children to sit still, let alone pay attention and he managed to do both. Being around kids suited him and if that didn’t make him even more cute she didn’t know what would.

Iris finally walked into the pavilion and all eyes immediately turned to her. She held her hands up as if she was caught and pretended to look guilty. “My first day and I’m late. Sorry.”

“Wow Iris. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed in you.” Barry teased, making all the kids laugh.

“It won’t happen again sir.” She said saluting him.

“Whatever.” He said rolling his eyes. “Like I was saying before Iris overhear interrupted me, we are making cards for your parents. On the front of the card try to draw what you saw outside from the camp. Iris drew this one the other day so you can look at it and get some inspiration from it.” He said pulling out her card and showing it to the kids. Everyone did their oohs and aahhss and Barry whispered quietly in Iris’s ear, “I told you it was good.”

His whispering voice was so seductive and she didn’t think he even knew it. It reminded her of his whisper the night before when he kissed her. It was raspy and low and so masculine and like that night, it sent shivers and goose bumps down her spine and weak in the knees. The affect that Barry Allen has on her is out of this world.

“But remember to right a sweet message in the inside to tell them how much you missed them too.” Iris stated.

“Yes that is very important.” Barry chimed in, smiling at Iris.

They handed out all of the papers and markers and got to work on the project. Barry helped with things like folding the papers in half perfectly and with spelling mistakes while Iris helped with drawing trees and people.

They did the same things for the other tribe before lunch and the other three after lunch. During the time with each tribe, one in a while Barry would catch her looking at him making funny faces to the kids and sometimes she swore she could feel him staring at her, but every time she dared to look up, his face was looking somewhere else. 

Once the last tribe left to go get dinner, Barry and Iris cleaned up after the kids. They wiped down the tables from all of the marker streaks and threw away all of the scrap papers. When they were ready, they made their way over the mess hall.

“So what happens after dinner? It’s too early for them to go to bed and they’re no more activities left for them to do.” Iris said walking very closely to Barry.

“After dinner we meet up in the mini house in the woods and watch a movie. Then after that we bring all the kids to their cabin to go to bed.”

“Wait, there is _another_ building here. I swear I discover new buildings every day.” Iris laughed.

“Well that’s the last one I swear.” He smiled.

Once they got to the mess hall they noticed that they were the last ones to get there. They quickly got their food and got the last two seats left at the table with the rest of their friends.

“Oh look, the two lovebirds finally decided to show up.” Cisco teased, causing Barry’s face to turn to every shade of red on the color spectrum.

“Shut up and we were just cleaning up after the kids.” Iris stated.

“Suuuure you were.” Cisco said, getting hit in the face by Iris’s piece of broccoli. “Hey!” he yelled.

“Oops.” Iris said, feigning innocence.

“So Lucas said that we’re watching Toy Story tonight so that should be fun.” Linda said trying to change the subject. Iris looked over and mouthed a “ _thank you”_ when she knew no one was looking.

“That is my favorite movie!” Scott practically screamed, bursting Jesse’s eardrum and pumping his fist in the air.

“Scott loves every little kid movie known to man, so don’t be alarmed if he does this every night.” Caitlin said to Iris.

“Thanks for the heads up.” Iris giggled, watching Scott as he did his little happy dance in his seat.

 

After dinner, everyone went to the house in the woods as a group. It was a cute little house on the outside, but actually super spacious in the inside. It was a huge room that was big enough to fill their whole group comfortably and it was filled with couches, bean bag chairs, pillows, and a huge projector screen on the back wall.

All the kids ran to get a comfortable spot in the front, while the counselors sat on the bean bag chairs in the back. Jesse, Caitlin, and Cisco shared one huge bean bag, while Scott and Eddie sat by themselves. There were two bean bag chairs left. One that fit two and the other that fit one. Realizing that she could get stuck sitting so close to Barry, she quickly grabbed Linda and pulled her over to the bean bag for two.

Who knew what could happen if she sat with Barry. She could have rested her head on his shoulder or get to feel his body pressed up next her. It’s not like she didn’t want that. She just wanted it a little too badly and Barry didn’t want it at all. She couldn’t do stuff like that.

Sensing how sad she was, Linda wrapped her arm around Iris in comfort and let Iris put her head on her shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much.” She whispered.

“I know. It’s just really hard.” Iris whispered back.

“I know.”

Iris managed to block Barry out of her thoughts and just focus on the movie. She hadn’t seen it in years and was surprised out how funny all of the jokes still were. She didn’t know if she was laughing harder at the jokes or Scott’s burst of laughter every single second.

When the movie ended Iris and Linda took their group of girls and led them to their cabins. They tucked all of the girls in bed, told a quick story, turned the lights off, and made their way to their own cabins.

Just as Iris was about to walk in the door, she caught a glimpse of Barry across the path. She gave a weak smile and if it wasn’t so dark outside, she could probably see the look of regret all over his face.


	5. Effects of Past Relationships

“So today we are making friendship bracelets!” Iris said to the first tribe that arrived. She lifted up  wooden bowl and continued to talk, “In this bowl they’re names of your fellow campers and whoever you chose you have  to make a bracelet for them and give it to them by the end of the day. You can do whatever you want. You can do some braiding action, beads, or anything else that you come up with. Does that sound cool!”

“Yeah!” the kids screamed in unison, already on the edge of their seat waiting to start the project.

“Iris and I even made one for each other.” He said, handing his bracelet to Iris.

It was cute. It was a white piece of string that had beads that were shaped like red roses and in the middle her name was spelled out in black lettered beads.

“Thanks Barry, I love it.” She said admiring her new found favorite piece of jewelry.

Barry paused for a second then blurted out “Now where’s mine?”

“Wow you are so needy aren’t you?” Iris and the kids laughed.

“You know I am.” He grinned.

She got out the bracelet that she made from her back pocket and tied it around his wrist for him. It was a super simple bracelet. She just braided different colors of sting so that they formed some type of striped situation. She didn’t want to make it too girly.

“Wow this is so much better than mine.” He said looking up from the bracelet into her eyes. “I love it.”

Iris felt her cheeks getting hot and she knew for a fact that her face was visibly flushed. She looked away quickly, trying to hide her face, but that didn’t stop some of the kids from noticing the fact that she was blushing like a little girl.

“Are you two dating?” one of the little boys said, saying ‘dating’ as if it was the grossest word known to man.

Barry pulled away instantly, distancing himself as far away as possible. His face and neck turned so red that you would think the kid caught them making out or something. “No, no, of course not. We’re just friends!” Barry squeaked out.

“Oooook.” The little boy said, clearly not convinced at all by Barry’s comment, but he quickly let it go as soon as one of his friends said something funny.

"So yeah umm.... you can use our bracelets as an idea for yours and umm....Iris is here if you need help with braiding and things like that." he said awkwardly, but Iris brushed it off for now.

 

The kid was actually the first of many to mistake the two friends as something more. In the second group of kids, Lilly whispered to Iris “You and Barry make a cute couple.” Then at lunch when Iris had to go over to a group of girls to tell them to stop throwing food, they told her how lucky she was to be with Barry.

Everyone seems to think that the two of them would make a great couple, except well….Barry. And if she was being perfectly honest with herself, it kinda pissed her off. Why did Barry not want to be with her, he never exactly gave her a reason. She didn’t mean to toot her own horn, but Iris Anne West is freaking amazing. She is smart, pretty, talented, fun, adventurous, and hilarious. Why didn’t he like her back. Why couldn’t he see what everyone else was seeing?

There had to be a deeper reason. There _had_ to be a deeper reason as to why he didn’t like her back because that kiss that they shared the other night was _everything_. She felt that kiss all the way down to her toes and she knows that he felt it too. He had to. So why was he pushing her away?

All those thoughts kept running through her head uncontrollably back and forth throughout the next three art sessions. She didn’t even realize that she was so distracted about everything till Barry brought it up at dinner.

“The kids were so hyper after lunch.” Caitlin sighed, “They were running around the woods like mad men.”

“Yeah same here.” Cisco said, “We were canoeing and the kids were so hyper that we tipped over twice!” Cisco yelled.

“Were the kids ok with you.” Linda asked Iris, but she was too busy playing with her food. “Iris?” Linda called out again, but got no response. “IRIS?” she said, shaking her best friend, causing Iris to jolt up in response.

“Yeah?” Iris said unaware that her name was being called multiple times.

“Geez what’s on your mind.” Linda teased.

“Nothing….nothing, I just got a little distracted.” Iris said, going back to playing with her food.

“You’ve been distracted all day.” Barry laughed.

“What?” Iris said looking up at Barry.

“After lunch you were super distant, like you were there, but you weren’t.”

“Oh sorry….guess I have a lot on mind.” Iris said, trying to laugh it off. “All these little kids.....um make me miss my little brother.” She lied.

Before someone tried to question her, Lucas came up to their table, saving Iris from coming up with another excuse.

“So tonight we are watching Beauty and the Beast for the movie.” Lucas said.

Iris stilled at the name of the famous princess movie. She felt nauseous and all these feelings that were suppressed for a long long time came flooding back up to her and she felt like she was drowning.

“YES! SCORE!” Scott yelled.

Linda, noticing the discomfort of her friend, quickly tried to come up with a solution to ease it. “Um actually Lucas, can we maybe get another movie. It’s not really a good movie for kids you know. There’s the scary beast and the killing at the end and the scary talking objects, so you know we shouldn’t…..ummm watch it.” Linda squeaked out.

“Well the kids actually suggested it and it’s a movie made for kids so I think they’re fine, but nice looking out Linda.” Lucas laughed as he walked away.

“Sorry.” Linda mouthed to Iris.

“It’s okay.” Iris mouthed back.

 

After dinner they all made their way to the house and Linda pulled Iris aside.

“Are you gonna be ok.” Linda said, putting her arms around Iris’s shoulder.

“Yeah I’ll be fine. It’s just a movie.” Iris reassured her best friend. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay, but I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“I know.” Iris said, placing her head on Linda’s shoulder as they walked to the house.

 

When the opening song came up, Iris thought she was going to throw up. Too many bad memories came with it and she really didn’t want to bring it up. She was having a really good time here and she didn’t want to have it ruined because of this stupid _stupid_ movie.

During the middle of the movie, Linda got up to go to the bathroom and she went during the worst part. It was the scene where Belle is in the woods attacked by the wolves, but the beast comes to save her. She knew that scene would make her sick and she was dreading it as soon as the movie started.

Her emotions overwhelming her, Iris immediately got up and ran out of the house and into the woods as far as possible. She kept running and running, not knowing where she was going, but she needed to clear her mind. Her heart was beating into her ears and she suddenly felt super dizzy. She placed both of her hands on the nearest tree for support and panted heavily. She heard footsteps running towards her, but she didn’t look up. She figured it was just Linda, suddenly coming out of the bathroom and running to help her, but she was surprised when she heard the voice of someone else.

“Iris are you okay?” Barry’s panicked voice said, placing his hands on her back.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She lied, standing up straight to face him to show him that she was okay.

“No clearly something is bothering you.” He said looking into her eyes. “You can trust me.” And with that she knew she could. The way he was looking at her made her feel safe, like really safe, and she hasn’t felt the way in a while.

She sat down on the floor, her back against the tree, and waited for him to do the same.

“I was in this relationship for about six years.” Iris started.

“Wow. That’s a long time.” Barry said amazed.

“Yeah, it was. He was my first and only love. He was everything to me and I genuinely thought that he would be with me for the rest of my life.” She scuffed. “Beauty and the Beast was our movie. We would watch it every single anniversary, birthday, holiday, or when we were just sad and needed a pick me up. He always said that the movie was about us. That he was the scary beast who didn’t like to let anyone in and I was Belle, the girl who changed him and let him see the light. Every time the wolf scene came on, he would hold me super close and whisper ‘I will always protect you from everything that life throws at you. I will always be there for you.’” She laughed sarcastically. “How ironic that the thing that needed protection from was him.”

“Oh Iris.” He said holding her hand tightly in his. “Did he….”

“No.” Iris said looking down. “He never hit me physically…..he just hit me mentally. And for some reason that probably hurt more.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” He said.

“I mean I’m over him completely. I don’t want anything to do with him, but just sometimes certain things that remind me of him bring me back to that head space that I was in and all the awful things that he said come back and it’s just hard for me to not believe it.” She said, her eyes becoming watery.

“Iris look at me.” He said turning her head so she had to face him. “Whatever he said to you is wrong. I have known you for just a couple of days and I already know that you are the most amazing girl in this world. You are caring and brave and worth _everything_. If he can’t realize that then there is clearly something wrong with him.”

One thing she learned about Barry Allen is that he always knows how to say the right words at the right time. “Thanks Barry, that means a lot. I know I’m all those things, but sometimes I just really need to hear someone else say them.”

“Well I’m always here for you.” He said sincerely.

“I know.” She whispered. Then all of a sudden his lips were on hers. She was surprised by the kiss and she stiffened for a second, but she quickly kissed him back and deepened it. She didn’t think that their second kiss could be better than the first, but it was. It was so good and---

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that.” Barry said getting up and running his hands through his hair.

“Barry I—“

“You were in a vulnerable state and I shouldn’t take advantage of that…… _again_. God what is wrong with me!” he rambled loudly.

“Barry!” Iris said, grabbing both of his hands so he wouldn’t run away. “I wanted you to kiss me. I’ve wanted you to kiss me again ever since our first kiss.” She assured him.

“But…but…” he said, looking anywhere, but her face.

“But nothing Barry.” She said grabbing his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. “I want to be with you Barry, I don’t want to be just friends. And I know you want to be with me too.” She paused. “So why are you pushing me away. Every time we kiss you run away. Every time someone mentions that they’re could be something more you run away. _Stop running Barry_. Because you and me won’t be able to work unless you talk to me.”

“I know…I know.” Barry sighed stepping away so he could take a deep breath. “I want to be with you too Iris. I want to be with you so bad it hurts. When I kissed you it felt like….like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It felt like everything a real kiss is supposed to be and then some.”

“Then why did you tell me you wanted to be friends?” Iris asked.

“Because I was scared!” Barry yelled, frustrated with himself. “I’ve only had one girlfriend. She was the most popular girl in school and I was the geek that no one really talked to. I thought I was so lucky that she asked me out…little wimpy Barry Allen. I did everything for her, I…I worshiped the ground she walked on and then three months later I found out that she was just using me to get back at her boyfriend. No one has _ever_ seen me as more than a friend and the one person that I thought did was just playing around with me like I was some sort of toy.” He paused. “And I’m so out of your league. You’re the world and I’m nothing. If _we_ were in Beauty and the Beast you would be Belle and I would be Lefou, the one that nobody ever wants to be with. When we kissed I was scared that it was going to be just like highschool. I was afraid that the feelings you had for me were nowhere near the ones I had for you. So I told you I wanted to be just friends because I couldn’t get hurt again. I just couldn’t.”

“Barry.” She said going closer to him, entwining her fingers with his. “The feelings that I have for you are real. I was with Eddie for six years, I was ready to spend the rest of my life with him, but the feelings that I have for you are so much stronger and deeper and better than anything I have ever felt. I’m not using you to get back at him or for any other reason. I just want to be with you for you. You’re not as bad as you think you are. You are _so_ much more.” She looked into his eyes and shook her head. How could he not see how amazing he was? She didn’t deserve to be with _him_.

She moved her head closer to his and gently kissed him. She felt him ease into her and deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She wasn’t going to let him run away. Not ever again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all it's been a LOOOOOONG time. Sorry about that. Things have just been crazy these days with school, college apps, exams, and just about everything. I'm gonna try and start writing some new fics more often, but this is the LAST CHAPTER in this series. Sorry that it is short and it seems a little rushed. Enjoy!

“Barry stop we need to get going,” Iris giggled as he kissed her neck. “They are probably worried about us.”   
“Let them worry,” he laughed, pulling away from her neck and looking into her eyes. “I could have had this a couple of days ago; I’m not going to run away again.   
Iris couldn’t help but kiss him in that moment. He was so sweet and so sincere. He made her feel like she was the only girl in the world.   
“I wish I’d met you sooner. I wish that I never met Eddie and have him hurt me like that. I wish I did everything on earth with you,” Iris said softly. It was insane how much she felt for this guy. They met only a few days ago, but she feet this electrifying connection that she couldn’t explain if she wanted to.   
“I feel the same way, but maybe we wouldn’t be the same person that we are today if those terrible instances didn’t happen to us,” he said.  
“I guess you’re right,” Iris said, kissing him again. “You’re always right.”   
“I don’t mean to brag, but….” He joked and Iris kissed the smug look on his face away. Before it got too intense, Iris lightly pushed him away.   
“We need to go. It’s getting late.”  
“Fine.”   
They walked to their cabins hand in hand. They agreed to keep what they had a secret. They didn’t want everyone in their business right now and it would probably look unprofessional to date the person you’re working with. Once they got to their cabins, they went their separate ways, but not before kissing one another. All of the girls in the cabin were surprisingly sleeping already and Iris sneakily made her way into her bed without making a sound.   
“Where were you,” Linda said sleepily.   
Iris quickly came up with a lie, “I had to check on some of the paper mache for the kids.”   
“Mmmmhhhmmm okay.” Even in her sleep Linda could see through Iris’s eyes.   
Iris giggled to herself and went to bed with a smile on her face. She finally had her man. 

The two of them managed to keep their secret for the rest of the time at camp. Linda knew, but she never said anything about it after that night. She may have forgotten or knew better not to pry. Barry and Iris would always wake up early enough to watch the sunrise on the beach, have quick kisses between different activities, and hold hands under blankets during movie night. 

Camp was fun, but it had to come to an end. The minute they stepped foot on the bus, they told everyone that they were dating. Surprisingly, everyone (except Linda) was shocked. They couple were bombarded with a multitude of questions and they happily answered. It was nice to talk about their relationship with other people. 

They spent practically every day of summer together and they got to learn even more about each other. They realized how truly perfect they are together and that they really do love each other. The day before they were both leaving for the east coast, Barry invited Iris over his house to have a chill day before the madness of moving into college. 

“I made you a little something,” Iris said, pulling out a medium picture frame from her bag.   
“Oh, you’re so sweet babe,” he said kissing the top of her head.  
She handed him the picture and it was probably one of the most amazing thing he has ever seen. It was a picture of the two of them that they took at the start of the summer and was painted in oil pastels.   
“It’s just a little something for you to put in your dorm room. I made some other ones for mine too,” Iris said smiling.   
“It’s beautiful,” Barry said. “It really is. Thank you.”   
“It’s nothing. I know that we are just going to be a two minute car ride away from each other, but I still wanted you to keep me close to you while you’re at Brown.”   
“I love it. It’s going right on my desk.”   
Iris cupped his face with her palms and looked at him with soft eyes. “I love you Barry Allen.”   
“I love you too Iris West.”


End file.
